Hello Everybody, today we are going to see how you can use 3D objects, extract lines and values from them and make your own backgrounds in Clip Studio Paint adding photo textures and using contrast to create the illusion of depth. So, let’s begin.

 

▼ You can watch the video below or keep reading the article.

 

1. Manipulate or Handle 3D Materials

1.1 Opening 3D Material or Data

You can open and add 3d material for the additional materials provided by CELSYS.

 

Go to the folder material and look up for 3d background then select the object you want to add and click on the paste to canvas icon.

 

You can also get 3d material for the Clip Studio Assets. You can download materials for free with Clippy or Gold.

 

But if you've got your 3d material for another sources. Make sure to get it in [OBJ] or [FBX]. Then you can open from [File > Import > 3d data] or just drag it into the canvas.

 

1.2 Manipulate 3D with Operation Tool

(a) Camera. You can use the three viewers icon of the camera from the [Movement Manipulator] to rotate it, pan it or zoom it. You can also do the same with the buttons from the mouse, left, right and middle click.

 

You can select preset from the camera icon at the bottom of the 3d object. And some 3d materials had special perspective different from the others.

 

(b) Object. To the right side you have the icons to move the object. You can use the first from the right to move it over the grid or any other 3D object present in the scene. The second to rotate it over its axis. The third to rotate to the sides. And the rest to move and rotate without any restriction.

 

You can find the same icons on the desktop version but you can also use the arrows and spheres to move and rotate the object.

 

You can also change textures, layout and move mobile parts from the three icons at the bottom right in the [Object Launcher].

 

(c) Tool Property & Sub Tool Detail. Finally you can use the [Tool property palette] to select some of the same options We have seen in the Object launcher or the Movement manipulator. But you can also add new options opening the [Sub Tool detail] from the wrench icon. You can make the options visible by clicking on the eye next to the name.

 

With the sphere you can control the light and the shadow to all the objects in the same layer.

 

You can also lock the camera from the [Object list] by clicking on the box next to the eye icon. that we are going to review later.

 

From the [Rendering settings] you can change the way how it looks when it's render and hide the texture or even don't use the light source.

 

1.3 Multiple 3D and Object List

Before continue just want you to notice that I have customized with 3d workspace giving priority to the window material and to the tool property palette to try to improve my workflow.

 

NOTE: If you are using a lot of 3D data, try to use a computer with good components that can handle the requirements, for CPU an Intel Core i5 or i7 are recommended. And for GPU or video a GTX 1050 or higher is recommend.

 

1.3.1 Adding more 3D Data

(a) To the same layer

Now to add more 3d data to the same layer select the 3d object from the window material and click on

the [Paste to canvas] icon, this will paste the material to the center of the grid.

 

You can also drag the material and the 3d object will appear wherever you release the mouse.

You can also copy and paste the 3d material from [Edit > Copy/Paste]

 

(b) To different layers

To add 3d material to a different layer select an empty layer and paste the material. If the material is too big use the object scale to resize it or the sphere with the triangles.

 

To make sure that the object follow the perspective change the Ruler visibility to [Show in all layers] from the [Layer palette].

 

Then drag the new 3d object to the canvas. If the object looks too big or too small press the [Center object] icon next to the camera icon.

 

1.3.2 Manipulating Multiple 3D Materials and Components/parts

(a) Object List

Now to manipulate multiple 3d materials and its components or parts, you can use the [Object list]. Imagine the object list as a group of layers with different parts that can contain pasted materials to the same layer or materials that contain a lot of elements or different components.

 

You can make multiple selections from the object list pressing CTRL or SHIFT. You can hide the objects by clicking in the eye in the left side.

 

You can delete objects with the delete icon or keyboard but if you try to delete a component/part from a 3d object with multiple parts you will also delete the entire 3d material

 

2. Extract Lines, Value: Tones and Shades from 3D materials

2.1 Extract Lines

(a) LT Conversion Lines with Depth

 

You can use the LT conversion to extract lines. Select the layer and go to [Layer > LT Convert to lines and Tones]. Turn on the [Preview] at the bottom of the options (in the android version) and turn off [Tone Work]. You can use extract line form texture if you want but for now I going to left that option turn off.

 

You can decide if you want a raster or vector layer. I prefer vector so you can edit the lines later. You can also change the size of the line.

 

Now turn on the [Depth] option. Here you can simulate the depth making the lines in the front thicker and the lines at the back thinner. You can compare the results with the Depth option turning on and off.

You can also played with the parameters of [Apply only to outer line] and [Smooth] to get different results.

 

Now you can select the Outline layer and change the [Expression Color] from monochrome to Gray or Color in the [Layer property] palette, this will give you more options with the lines. You can change the anti-aliasing and also select another brush shape in the [Tool Property].

 

(b) Artistic Filter-Lines only (3d blueprint)

 

You can also extract lines in Clip studio Pro or EX versions using [Artistic]. Just duplicate the 3d

layer and rasterize it. Then go to [Filter > Effect> Artistic] select lines only and played with the line parameters. To get straight lines similar to the original material try to get the [Line simplicity] to 1 or 10. The [Line density] is going to control the texture and keep the [Line opacity] to 100 percent. You can changes the other parameters to get different results if you like.

 

Now you can select the layer and [Right Click] to convert it to a vector layer. On the vector settings try to keep a low number for correction. Then you can change the brush size and the color in the [Tool property] palette.

 

To make a 3D blueprint you can Rasterize a duplicated layer and add a [Gaussian blur] filter and play with the [Blending modes] in the [Layer] palette.

 

 

2.2 Extract Tones

To extract tones you can use the LT conversion from [Layer > LT Convert to lines and Tones].

Turn on the preview option and Turn ON the [Tone Work] option. You can play and with the parameters and change the type, frequency and angles of the tones. You can also change the

[Posterization] values to get different results.

 

You will get a [Folder] with the outline and the tones in separate layers. You can edit or change these tones from the [Layer property] under the [Tone] menu.

 

2.3 Extract Shades/Values Shadows

(a) Artistic Filter-Color only

With a Rasterized layer use [Artistic] from [Filter > Effect> Artistic] and select [Color only].

Choose a number between 2 or 10 in [Number of colors] to get different shades or color shades. Then change the [Expression color] to gray or monochrome from the [Layer property] palette. You can select [Tone] and decrease the opacity in the [Layer] palette to adjust the tones.

 

3. Drawing and Paint with 3D Perspective Rulers

Select the [3d Layer] and change the (1) Ruler visibility to [Show in all layers] from the [Layer palette].

Then you can use the [Perspective ruler] to draw with different tools (2) such as Straight line, Rectangle, Ellipse from [Figure] using the same perspective. You can change the orientation of the rectangle (or Rectangle selection) after one click, just move the cursor in different directions to change the axis.

 

You can also use brushes and selection areas with the [Perspective ruler]. Just make sure you have (3) [Snap to Special Ruler] selected or turning ON.

 

You can also select the ruler with the [Operation] tool and (4) show the grid in all the axis. Then you can use [Snap to Grid] to draw directly over the 3d grid.

 

4. Add Photo Textures

You can add photo texture to your background design. Just copy the photo or image with the texture and from [Edit > Transform> Scale or Rotate] change the [Scale ratio] or resize the image with the handles in the canvas. Then change the mode to [Free transform] from the [Tool property] palette and match the perspective of the object.

 

You can use a [Mask] to hide all the image and paint to reveal the texture that you want. You can also use the ruler to paint with the same perspective and change the blending modes to get different results.

 

5. Depth and planes

(1) After all you work with the 3d material you can organize your planes in different [Layer folders] in the [Layer] palette.

 

(2) Make sure that the planes closer to the camera are darker and the planes away from the camera are lighter. This is going to help you to create a sense of depth in the different planes. Also the planes away for the camera are going to have less details.

 

(3) You can create a [Fill] layer with gray, black or white and change the [Blending more] to [Color] to check the contrast in the different planes. You can also create correction layers such as [Tone curve] or [Level correction] to make adjustments.

 

(4) Now if you place an element really close to the camera you can make it appear out of focus to make the entire image more realistic.

 

 

Summary / Recap

So to start making your background designs with 3D materials in Clip Studio Paint. Remember the first step (1) is to open and manipulate the 3D objects you have collected. Second (2) extract lines and values with the LT option or the Artistic Filter. Third (3) draw and paint using the Perspective rulers. Then (4) add photo textures and finally create the illusion of depth (5) with planes and contrast.

 

So, I hope you have found something useful that you can use in your own workflow. Thanks for reading the article. Now get out there (or indoors in your studio... I mean whatever) and design some backgrounds with 3D. This is Ed saying “until the next time”.